A review by mystereity
Dead as a Door Knocker: A House-Flipper Mystery by Diane Kelly

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

 Someone on r/CozyMystery was looking for a recap of this book because it had been awhile since she read it and she just got the second book in the series. It looked super cute, so I picked it up and read it to give her a recap.

And this was cute, I love Sawdust and I loved that he got his own chapters and his fear of the Floor Demon and Ceiling Demons made me laugh. It added so much charm to the series! I liked Whitney too, she had that perfect blend of likable, competent, confident and vulnerable.

If I had to give a minus to the story, it was that there was just a little too much misery porn. It seems like every other page had another terrible catastrophe and after awhile, felt like filler and detracted from the great plot to the point I had to keep flipping pages to get past the latest calamity. Ugh. Such a shame, the plot was top notch. Several strong suspects each with good motive made it hard to pin down the whodunit, which added to my enjoyment.

Overall, an good start and I look forward to reading the second book soon!